Searching For His Soul
by HopelessFujoshi
Summary: This is based off of the Veggie!Ed ending in BBI & is in Harry's fifth year in Hogwarts. I'm not all that great at summaries! Oh I changed the Rating to T cause I'm paranoid 'bout Ed's occasional cursing, I hope you enjoy it!
1. An Odd Meeting

The Bluebirds outside were singing their greetings to the morning waking up Alphonse Elric. Al yawned and stretched. Leaning over to his brother's bed he shook his Elder brother gently.

"Ed... Ed wake up... I have to make sure you wake up so I can get your food ready."

In response the golden haired boy opened his eyes revealing a dull empty look.

Al grimaced ever so slightly before regaining his composure.

After all... It had been like this for a year. He had to quit getting his hopes up every morning.

Ed wasn't going to magically wake up from the state he was in.

Winry and Pinako had already suggested that he... should put Ed 'out of his misery'

Al scowled at the memory. It was horrible that they even think about something like that.

Ed wasn't in any misery. He'd wake up eventually, he knew it. Somewhere in that empty shell was his brother. He was just... sleeping.

Al nodded to himself as he got up, heading down the stairs for the food preparation he had promised.

'That's right. He's just sleeping is all. Heck... Maybe his soul just got separated like m-'

Alphonse suddenly stopped mid step 'Just like me...M-maybe his soul is on the other side of the gate?!'

Al's eyes grew as the thought grew, swirling around his head. 'So... maybe there was a way to retrieve it!'

Al ran right back up the stairs while momentarily forgetting about the food. He was far too busy being excited by the thought that there was something that he could do to help his older brother.

For Ed, Al was willing to give anything. Ed had sacrificed so much for him and now it was Al's turn to do the same.

Al smiled happily, his eyes glowing, at the boy that was laying on the bed. There was something filling him up to the brim. He hadn't felt it in awhile, hope.

"Just wait for me brother! I'll get your soul back from the Gate no matter what!"

And Al could have sworn that for a second just for a fleeting second, He saw his brother smile at him.

* * *

Harry Potter was not a very happy student. In fact as of right now he was a very angry one.

The one to blame for his anger was the new teacher from the Ministry.

The teacher was rather toad-like and had an obsession with kittens.

It was rather disturbing quite honestly.

Her name is Professor Umbrige.

Harry might not hate her as much if it wasn't for the fact that she had an extraordinarily annoying habit of coughing in an obviously fake and rude manner whenever she wanted to get a word in about something. Which.. was a lot.

Although more often than not it was just insulting the other Teacher that she was interrupting.

She was an evil little witch as well as an agitating one; And Harry had scars on his hand from her detentions to prove it.

His friends Ron and Hermione helped with the scars and pain afterwords but otherwise couldn't do much.

The main reason was because the little...Toad had back up in the Ministry.

Many students resented her deeply and would love to do many nasty things to her but were forced to restrain themselves.

Harry was currently mumbling about his annoyance with the subject while wandering the halls under his invisibility cloak.

Suddenly he heard a soft moaning sound.

Harry did a complete one eighty to see if he had been caught.

However, He was surprised to see nothing. Harry walked in the direction that the sound had come from.

His curiosity reached its peak when he realized that the sound had come from the library.

He entered the room quietly and smiled in spite of himself due to being reminded of past years.

He walked cautiously around the rows of books.

"...Who's there...?" A voice suddenly asked.

Harry jumped about a foot in the air thinking that the infamous librarian had found him instead of him finding the noise source.

But, when Harry turned he was rewarded with a ghost instead of the suspected Teacher.

Harry stared at the boy with confusion.

The ghost boy was looking around with a confused expression. Which didn't really surprise Harry, he'd be confused as well in his position.

However, Harry was bothered because he had never heard of a golden haired ghost boy here at Hogwarts.

Harry decided to be a bit reckless and slid the cloak off causing the ghosts eyes to widen and if possible turn even paler.

"How'd you do that?"The boy asked in a hushed tone.

'Is he a muggle..?' The question crossed Harry's mind idly but he shook it off.

There's no way that a muggle would be here.

Harry answered with a question of his own.

"Who are you?"

The ghost boy smirked "If you answer me I'll answer you.

Harry sighed at the boy.

"I'll tell you in a minute alright? Just... Come with me. I don't want to get caught in here. I'll get in trouble with the librarian."

The boy nodded and trailed after Harry to the best of his ability.

'Which' Harry noted 'was pretty well done if he is- was a muggle.'

Harry thought, reminding himself that the boy was dead.

Or at least He should be. Since his ghost was wandering about and all.

After a few minutes Harry reached his desired destination, the common rooms.

It was deserted this late at night and no one would come down and interrupt the twosome here for awhile.

"Now... we can talk." Harry said smiling breathlessly.

The ghost nodded his head suddenly looking very solemn and awaited his answer.

Having gotten only silence Harry sighed knowing the boy was waiting on him.

"I was using an Invisibility Cloak to hide myself from the teachers. I felt like taking a midnight walk."

The boy bent his head to the side in a confused silence.

"Invisibility Cloak..?"

Harry sighed again.

'This...is going to be a handful...' He noted in his head.

"What would you say if I said Magic was real?"

The boy shrugged and Harry noted that the smirk was back.

"It depends...What would you say if I said Alchemy was real?"

Harry raised an eyebrow at the question.

"Alchemy..? But...that art has been long gone."

The boy shrugged.

"Well...where I come from... It a very much alive art while magic is something in fairy tales and bed time stories. It cannot be proven in science, so...to me...It doesn't exist."

The boy shrugged at the expression on Harry's face.

"It may sound narrow minded but that's just the way I grew up learning."

Harry ran a hand through his hair exasperated.

This boy was odd. He didn't even seem to recognize who he was talking to.

Now don't get Harry wrong, this was like a breath of fresh air, not having to answer twenty questions about Voldemort for once but he wasn't used to people not knowing.

"Anyway...I'm Harry Potter. Now will you tell me your name? I don't want to have to call you The Ghost all the time."

The Golden boy had the smirk that Harry was starting to think a normal thing for him.

"Of course. I'm Edward Elric."


	2. Memories

_'Riza's going to kill me if I don't get that paperwork done soon, And I told Havoc I'd check out that girl he's been googly-eyed over for a about a week- God Alphonse can go on for awhile.....'_

"-is what connects the two together ya know?"

Roy had a glazed look covering his eyes only to suddenly snap out of it once realizing the expectant stare he was getting from FullMetal's little brother.

"Uh huh." He so brilliantly replied.

Al nodded seeming to accept the answer this time only to start off again explaining something that Roy thought he should be listening to....

_'So......How did I get dragged into this again I wonder.... '_

Roy sighed trying to think of why exactly the kid had said he needed to speak with him

_...Something..... Urgent._

Alphonse had made that much very clear but Roy had only half listened.

Roy mentally glared at himself.

_'It's the Hughes's fault. He's got me tuning everyone out'_

Roy smiled in satisfaction at being able to turn the blame to someone else.

However, this time the Flame Alchemist didn't notice the look the younger Elric was giving him.

"Sir...?"

The boy asked again.

Roy jerked his head up and tried to pass it off as a side gesture but could tell he failed miserably by the annoyed and somewhat nogalistic expression that passed the boy's features as he looked at him.

"You weren't listening."

Roy mentally winced at the fact that it wasn't even a question this time.

"Please try to listen this time. It is important. And about Big Brother."

In the back of his head Roy noted that the second part seemed to be tacked on as a side note.

Al looked at Roy and was satisfied by the Elders sudden attention.

"I suppose I should start from the beginning considering you didn't catch a thing I said."

Al let out a sigh and murmured something under his breath that sounded vaguely like

"...predictable exactly........brother"

Roy simply nodded in Al's direction smartly choosing not to comment on the under the breath talking.

"As I was trying to say- You're listening this time right? "

Roy nodded again to confirm his attention.

"It's only a matter of time. Soon his body will-"

* * *

"Harry, Are you positively SURE he's a ghost? Like, Positively sure?"

Harry rolled his eyes at his friend that was currently whispering rather loudly despite the fact that the subject of the whisper was standi- floating not five feet away.

"Well Hermione last time I checked only ghosts can float through walls."

Said girl simply brushed back her bushy hair back to glance at the ghost or whatever it was only to turn quickly back to Harry once being spotted.

_"Harry......"_

Ron snickered quietly at the tone, earning two heated glares from the other two.

Raising his hands in defeat he turned to bob his head at Hermione.

"Well 'Mione if he's not a ghost then what else could he be?"

Hermione glared at the black and red-headed boys she called friends.

"I **told **you already. I don't know. Maybe a You-Know-Who follower? Did you ever think of that!? I mean honestly!!"

Ed coughed, trying and succeeding in getting the attention on him.

He raised an eyebrow at the mistrust evident in the girl's face.

"Who exactly am I suspected to be following? 'Cause I -don't-know-who."

Hermione's face was quickly turning red at being overheard while Ron just looked bored.

Harry on the other hand looked intrigued.

"You Really don't know who we're talking about?"

Ed let out a deep sigh

"Didn't I **just** say that?"

Hermione apparently had gathered her courage back up and faced Ed, the blush ever so slowly fading,

"If you want us to believe that you're a ghost then give us proof!"

Ed laughed in a way that sent chills down the trio's spine.

"I don't believe in ghosts myself. Why should I try to prove something to you that I don't even think to be true?"

Ron snorted

"Well what are you then Mate?"

Ed suddenly looked almost tired which in turn surprised them.

"Dead."

There was a very long pause before he added,

"Or I'm on the other side"

Eye's downcast Ed mumbled more to himself than to them, "

I really don't know anymore......"

Hermione piped up asking exactly what the other two were wondering Harry and Ron smirked at this _'good ol' Hermione'_

"What do you mean on the other side?"

Ed slowly lifted his gaze to the girl feeling much older than his actual age,

_'Is this what it was like for Al?'_

"I mean on the other side of the gate. Another world."

Three sets of eyes grew huge.

"Another world??? That's impossible!"

Ed snorted

"I would've said the same not too long ago."

Ron was surprisingly the one to snap out of the stupor first.

"So, can you answer that question?"

Ed simply looked at the Red-head, given no response he continued on

"Are you with You-Know-Who?"

Ed made an agitated noise in the back of his throat.

"I'd be able to answer you if I knew who in the **heck** you're talking about!!"

Harry stepped towards Ed trying to calm him down a bit.

"Lord Voldemort."

Ed's eyebrow's shot up at the collective gasps that came from the two.

"Voldemort? What the hell is that? Sounds like some noise a dieing animal would make..........."

Harry laughed despite himself before turning to Hermione only to see that see she was sending a disapproving look at Ed

"I'm pretty sure he's not a Death Eater Hermione...."

Another chuckle, curtsy of Ron.

"Okay so maybe he's not, But that doesn't explain the fact that he's not..."

Hermione made a odd hand motion with her hands that were directed at Ed in general.

"You know... Silverish and see through"

She shrugged.

"It's concerning Harry. You can't pretend that he wouldn't do something like this just so that he could corner you while you're alone....."

Harry seemed unaffected by Hermione and simply looked at Ron who was trying to talk to the odd boy.

"Well so far he hasn't tried to kill me and he seemed happy enough when I told him I was introducing him to you."

Hermione sighed giving up.

"Fine. but don't say I didn't warn you!"

Harry simply grinned

"Same goes to you."

With a sigh of exasperation the two turned their attention to the others.

"-said it's my natural color!! You got a problem with it?!"

Ron shook his head quickly

"No! I was just asking...... Esh.....touchy much?"

Ed rolled his eyes ignoring the red head's comment.

"So......"

Hermione started eagerly

"Where did you say you came from?"

Ed chuckled

"I didn't."

She turned her eyes to the celling of the common room fighting the urge to see if the golden boy could be strangled..

"Can you?"

Ed smiled with an odd expression that no one could quite place.

"You wouldn't know where it is even if I told you."

Ed instantly quieted despite the stares

"Please?"

She asked almost timidly

"Resebool. That's my hometown."

Hermione sent a gleaming smile his way at getting an answer.

"It sounds pretty. What was it like?"

Ed sighed getting agiated at the girl's nosiness. It was really starting to grate his nerves.

"It is a very calm place out in the country. "

That was met with silence which somewhat surprised Ed.

However, When he looked at Hermione's face he was vaguely reminded of a certain girl back in central.

He smirked at the brown haired girl a nogalistic smirk covering his features again.

"W-What?"

Hermione asked, unnerved by the sudden show of familiarity.

Ed seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in only to smile at the girl which, if possible, odded her out even more.

"It's nothing. You just reminded me of someone."

Hermione sent a questioning look at Ed only to see him shake his head in return.

"Really, it's nothing."

His eyes suddenly went downcast '

It's nothing.....Just a past and memories that constantly haunt me that I know I can never go back to....'

He thought to himself bitterly for a moment before giving the trio a quick little wave and smile disappearing throught the painting of the Fat lady.

Leaving the golden trio confused as ever by him.

* * *

_~A/N~_

_So! I tried to make this one a little longer then the first chapter and I'm ever so happy to report that it is! =3 I thank everyone that took time out of their day to review and I just wanted to say that you guys make my day! And I thank the other people that pointed out some of my mistakes! Yes I'm still learning and yes I'm sad to say that it may annoy you but I'll get better or at least try! ^.^ So, yet again I say thanks and I can't wait to hear from you! Tell me what you think kay?  
-Btw~! I'm trying to be as correct about the BBI parts as I can but seeing as I've never played the game it's makes it kinda hard. So if I jack anything up on my fma or Hp info feel free to tell me! I'll get on it I promise! Well, until next week my friends!_


	3. Cockroaches

**A/N~ Okay first of all I want to apologize to everyone about the delay. Sorry about that you guys but my computer decided it wanted to be evil and started to glich up really badly. Like... I couldn't even get online without it freezing up. Yea.... But also I want to give a big thank you to my BETA for this chapter! FantomoDrako did an awesome job and was really paitent with my crappy writing XD. so that's all! Thanks for your reviewing and I can't wait to see what you guys think!**

* * *

Ed sighed out of pure boredom and stared at the dark walls that surrounded him. He could leave if he felt up to it but he was in no mood to play twenty questions with random students again. That got very old very fast. It didn't help that Ed had a short temper anyway... He floated up to the grimy walls and stretched out a hand. 'Will I be able to touch them? Last time I could, but....'

The first few days that he had ended up here he couldn't touch a single thing. It got increasingly frustrating, but recently... Ever since that one boy had struck up a conversation with him, he had been able to touch things again. He could never feel it but he could cause his hands to push things and press against them. It was no exciting feat but it was progress in Ed's eyes.

He reached out his hands and practically beamed in pleasure of seeing his pale fingers press against the wall. A few seconds later however, and the smile died down. The cause was his hand. It was odd. He wasn't used to being so pale. Sure it was a granted that he wasn't exactly the most tan person around but he was never ever the most pale either. He had overheard people often commenting on how his skin was the perfect mix; on how it made him seem to glow along with his eyes and hair.

Ed glumly withdrew his hand from the wall and let it drop by his side. He stared at the wall with a blank expression, his nostalgia taking over again. An eerie silence engulfed the young blond.

With an almost unconscious movement, Ed's right hand started to play with his hair. He looked down at it with a slight smile. He had almost forgotten that he used to do that all the time. His eyes were drawn to his hair, a curious expression evident on his face.

"Why?" he asked the air, not caring who or what was listening. "Why did my eye and hair color come back?"

It confused him to no end. Everything had been practically shimmering when he first came, but a few minutes later and every feature of him was dulled. It all looked washed out and empty. But then, over the course of a few hours, his eyes and hair had gained their original color back. What was the point of it..?

Ed wasn't complaining, but it was just down right confusing. He forgot how twisted The Truth's humor was apparently.

A small frown began to settle on the blonde's face, but then almost at the exact same time a loud thumping sound was heard. Ed's head snapped up just in time to see an odd floating ghost barrel through the wall he had just been examining. The golden boy flew back from the surprise of the sudden appearance only to have his back meet the wall.

'Just when I'm getting used to touching things too...' Ed thought grimly.

The ghost that, Ed just realized, resembled a beach ball was currently mumbling to the walls about some weird fireworks. Ed couldn't make out what in the heck the man was saying. The said beach ball was either unaware Ed was there or was choosing to ignore the other's presence. Ed had just started to slip away when the man looked up with a toothy grin that resembled Barry the Chopper's very much. Ed had to fight back a shiver when the thing talked.

"Oh ho ho! What do we have here? A wee student roaming the halls at night?"

Ed snarled at the wee part. "Shut up!"

This only caused the freaky man to grin wider. "Ohhh? Hit a sore spot did we?"

Ed's eyebrow twitched; whatever composure he had was slipping. "I said shut up!!!"

The thing only cackled and waved at Ed. "I'll have to remember that the golden shrimp is subject to short jokes! But for now I must go! Many things to do and very little time to do so!"

Ed was left shaking violently with clenched fists as the beach ball man disappeared with a poof. There was an odd scuttling noise that dragged Ed's attention from his anger and to the floor. He gaped at the floor in surprise, his mouth hanging open. The previously clean hallway was now covered in small brown things that Ed thought to be cockroaches.

"When...?" he asked the air, still shocked. "Did he mean???" He placed a hand over his forehead. "Oh....I am so glad I can't get headaches like this...Otherwise I'd have a frickin' migraine by now...." He sighed and shook his head in annoyance. "I'm never going to be able to get used to this 'Magic' crap."

With that Ed dropped himself to his feet and appeared to be walking on them. After only a few minutes of pure and undisturbed silence, it was yet again interrupted by a very frazzled looking toad lady.

"What are you doing down here after hours?!"

Ed looked at her with anger. 'Who does she think she is?!' He was in a bad mood due to the beach ball man and this lady was not helping at all. Ed idly wondered if it'd be possible for a human to get punched in the face by a ghost. He grinned evilly at the thought which seemed to further agitate the lady.

"Well?!? Are you going to answer me?!"

Ed simply raised an eyebrow causing his features to twist further. The lady was loosing her nerve that much was obvious.

"Peeves!! If this is your idea of a joke, I'm going to personally kick you out of this castle myself!! If Dumbledore can be removed so can you!!!"

Ed gave no indication of hearing her. He had no idea who Peeves was, and after deciding that his theory wasn't worth testing right now he was bored again. This much was evident on his face. He turned his back to the woman and floated off getting a shocked stare from her.

"What's your problem?" he asked with a slight grin, "Never see a ghost before?"

The woman seemed to pay no mind to him and was staring wide-eyed at the floor that was still swarming with the bugs. Ed's grin grew so wide he thought his face was going to crack.

"It seems..." he said slowly, edging ever so slowly to her, "That someone doesn't like bugs."

The woman gave no reply, her eyes still glued to the floor. Ed took advantage of her momentary loss and picked up a bug before pausing and chucking it at her. There was a dead silence then......

"!!!!!!!!!! GET IT OFF!!! GET IT OFF OF ME!!!!!!!!!"

Ed flew off laughing so hard he was glad he didn't need to breathe. He could see students peeking out of corners, curious as to what was happening. Some laughed and muttered something about the Peeves guy again while others would smile solemnly where the screams were echoing from.

Ed smiled happily. His good deed of the day was done.

* * *

"So....you think Ed's soul is on the other side of the gate, Alphonse?" Roy asked Al, obviously confused with how the younger Elric thought this up.

"Yes! I mean... My body resided in the Gate. So...maybe, just maybe, Ed's soul is on the other side of the Gate! He might even be looking for a way back in a different body."

Roy furrowed his brow and placed his right hand over his eyes. "If you go on like that, the possibilities are endless... "Roy let out a breath of air, wondering as to why in the heck he was dragged into it before anyone else. 'Then again... I suppose he couldn't really go to anyone else for something like this...' Roy snapped his eyes up to face Al.

Al flinched back for a second at the sudden stare coming from the officer "S-Sir?" he asked quietly before noticing that the man was smirking.

"I suppose my dates can wait."

The dirty blond smiled thankfully at the elder. "Thank you!"

Roy shook his head at the boy, getting a questioning look in response. "I don't want you to feel bad. I told you that you were free to ask for my help remember?"

Al smiled again and nodded before turning serious yet again. "We should hurry. Big Brother can't wait forever."

Roy nodded, a serious look covering his features as well.

However, when Al turned to walk out the huge wooden doors he heard a loud tell tale creaking noise followed by a sudden rush of wind. He swerved around again only to see Roy opening the windows one foot out one already.

"You're crazy if you think we'll make it out there."

Al raised an eyebrow at the man. "Huh?" He so brilliantly asked.

Roy said nothing but simply pointed at a mountain that Al just realized to be a stack of papers. "Those," Roy stated, "have become overdue by about a month. Understand now?"

Al sighed before walking behind the man, waiting for him to hurry up so he could follow suit. "This is why you do your work instead of sneaking out windows."

Roy smirked at the younger Elric. "But what fun would that be?"

Al rolled his eyes. "I swear. You and Big Brother can act so much alike at times it scares even me."


	4. Blondes, SnowFlakes, and Meetings Oh my!

Alphonse was currently staringoff into space again. Roy sighed rather loudly; that having been the fifth time it had happened ever since they had managed to finally get a train heading back to Resembool. It had taken a lot of persuading comingfrom the two. Their persuading had ended up sounding more like threatening in his opinion, but, hey, as long as they got there in time he wasn't complaining.

The elder man glanced over to hiscompanion and grimaced. He knew that face. Al was more likely than not worrying himself sick over the matter. Sure he had seemed to be cheerful, but it must have been easy acting, After all… This was FullMetal's little brother here. Ed must have rubbed off on Al at least a little bit. Roy sighed again, but this time out of anticipation. It was going to take three days to get to their destination.

Hopefully... they'd make it in time. Now normally Roy wasn't one for wallowing in worries (Most of the time anyways) but this was a special case. If they didn't make it in time... it was going to be a hell of a lot harder to get the blonde back. He slid his eyes shut for a moment and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had forgotten how much of a handful Ed was, and now... it was coming back to bite him in the butt. Wonderful. Suddenly there was an odd noise that, oddly enough, sounded like a very well hidden snort. Roy cracked one eyelid open to see Al looking at him, an amused expression in his eyes.

"Yes...?" Roy asked cautiously, not sure what he was going to get in response.

"Isn't that painful...?" Roy simply raised an eyebrow at him due to having no idea what in the heck he was talking about. "Your nose... It's turning red 'cause you're pinching it......."

Roy let his fingers drop instantly only to cuss as soon as he realized the teen was right. He hadn't been paying attention and now he was sure his nose was going to fall off. "Just my luck..." Roy grumbled under his breath, wincing as he gingerly ran his finger over the area trying to find out how bad the damage was.

"Well..." Al inserted helpfully, "At least you didn't break it!"

Roy stayed quiet; his only reply a withering glare.

The boy simply chuckled at the man. Glaring didn't effect Al very much due to the fact that he grew up with someone who was very well known for his glaring. Al simply smiled before turning back to the almost hypnotic sky, leaving the suffering man and his red nose in the silence as thoughts of firefly grass breezed throughout his thoughts.

* * *

Snow was covering everything in Hogwarts on this particular day and it was pleasing to the eye. The frozen water crystals shined and glittered madly as the sun's rays shone on them and in turn the light bounced off of the lake and castle creating a winter wonderland.

Ed watched the white snowflakes fall in crazy suicide dives all around him right into the feet packed ground below. It was quite odd knowingthat it was supposed to be cold and yet able to feel nothing. It was like being in a glass bubble almost. The ability to see what was going on and comprehend the feeling something is supposed to induce and yet being unable to act on it. It saddened him to a certain measure. It surprised even Ed on how he was close to missing the evil weather that would torture him almost every time he went outside when it occurred. Ed held out his left hand half hoping that it would catch a snowflake. He watched in both grim amusement and surprise as a rather huge flake of snow twirled and spun right in the area of where his hand was currently at. The snowflake, however, kept falling oblivious to the hand it had been resting on.

The snow had gotten every single student out of their classes, much to a certain ghost's pleasure and displeasure. Pleasure because now he wouldn't have to wander around the huge castle bored to tears again, and displeasure because now that certain ghost would have to go through with the pretence of walking so he wouldn't attract attention. That's what the bushy haired girl said anyway...

Ed trailed after the trio, zoning in and out of their current conversation. Almost everyone was still talking about what had happened the day before. Sure it had been awesome hearing everyone gossiping about what happened to the Toad Lady, but it'd gotten old after hearing it getting more and more messed up every time. Then it just got on his nerves.

"-n't you think so, Ed?"

Ed blinked blankly at the unexpected looks he was suddenly getting. "What'dya say?" He questioned in reply; he didn't feel up to pretending he heard. Sure it was funny with the Bastard but only because he knew what the reaction would be and that it'd be funny. Well... as long as he made sure that Riza Hawkeye wasn't there. He shivered involuntarily as he remembered the last time he had gotten careless... He vividly remembered what the inside of the barrel looked like and he didn't wish to ever again meet her 'friend'.

"Harry was saying that Umbridge was way outta line when she made up that stupid rule- "

"Decree."

"Whatever, Hermione, and that she must have somebody spying on us."

There was a pause as Ed attempted to figure out why they'd think that spies were after them. There was a very obvious sigh that was Hermione's trademark as she started to explain to the obviously confused ghost.

"I don't think we told you yet because we started it before you came, but we have a club called Dumbledore's Army. It's a club that Harry's in charge of and that a bunch of our friends are in. Now there's a new decree that says any group meetings are forbidden."

Ed nodded making a face. "That's stupid." That was met with three identical nods and laughs.

"At least we know she's scared, but I think we should take some measures that'll give us a bit more protection..." Hermione muttered with an additional sigh

There was yet another silence that was filled with glum faces. Suddenly Ed chuckled, gathering the trio's attention. "I could always float around your meeting and warn you if I see anyone..." They all nodded eagerly at his suggestion.

"Oh, Ed! That'dbe absolutely wonderful of you! You sure you won't mind though? They usually last quite a while..."

Ed smirked. "Puh-lease, like I have anything better to do? I've had jello that's seen more interesting days then I have lately."

Hermione was practically glowing at him. "Thank you! You have no idea how much that helps our situation!"

Harry gave him a thumbs up with a smile and Ron nodded to him appreciatively. "Thanks mate. You're cooler then I thought."

Ed rolled his eyes with a laugh, happy to help. Not like he could do much else anyway. Besides... if he got bored he could always check in on them to see what they were doing. He was curious about this magic of theirs. Granted he'd seen it, but not up close. He idly watched as two students chased after each other and threw snowballs at each other.

Ed unconsciously smiled at them, reminded of him and Al when they were younger. Ahh, how he missed Al... He frowned at the thought, feeling guilty now. Al's probably worried sick... He was goingto work his butt off getting back. No 'ifs' about it. If he had to, he would attempt to posses a suit of armor to read. Sure it'd attract attention, but they'd get over it eventually. Despite his attempts to get lost in his memories, he was soon dragged out of them by the trio's excited chattering.

"-can't wait! I have to go get ready for it! Hey, Ed, can you carry stuff around? I'll get you a coin so you'll know when our meetings are." And with that Hermione took off, beckoning Ed to follow.

"See you later mate," Ron said with a grin. "You're going to be at the Library for the rest of the day..."

Harry waved him off as Ed trailed after her with no noticeable complaints.

~A few minutes later~

"Hey, Ed? This'll take me a minute so you can go look at some books for a bit. Just come back in a few minutes, okay?" Ed nodded his head, only half paying attention as he floated away aimlessly.

"-see...face when...threw...out- .........start... bawling-"

Ed raised an eyebrow as he started to hear jumbled sentences coming from the other side of the bookcase. Intrigued, he stuck his head over the tall object only to be greeted with almost blindingly blonde hair.

"-Begged on...kne-....hilarious-"

Ed glared at the boy, his anger rising. Was he bragging about teasing a kid? How childish. For some reason it pissed him off much more than he thought it would. He smirked as he thought up a quick solution to the issue. He gently tapped a book further up on the bookcase and watched with a satisfied smile as it fell on the boy's head with a rather loud, satisfying 'THUNK'.

"Wha?!?!"

Geez, even his voice was annoying...

"Crabbe! Goyle! Where'd that come from?!"

Ed watched with evident amusement as the as the two aforementioned audience members pointed up at him with a dumb look on their faces. Ed would have paid money to see the blonde's face again. The face was priceless. Lined with anger and yet, at the same time, it held a pampered look to it. He looked something like what his superior would call a Military Brat.

"Just you wait!!!" The Blonde Brat yelled up at Ed, anger covering all of his features. "I'll tell my father on you!!"

Ed almost laughed at the boy and asked what his father could do. Almost. But he made do with a half-wave and a smirk, followed by about twenty extra books to the face before vanishing from sight. The loud blonde's sight anyway. He really just went back to Hermione to see if she was done yet. He chuckled to himself as he heard the Librarian get on the blonde's case about disturbing the peace.

Hermione smiled up at him as he neared her. "Having fun?" she asked with a half smile, hinting that she knew what he just did but had no desire to say so.

So the blonde was unpopular with the Trio? Interesting...

"Well," she announced, interrupting Ed's train of thought, "your coin is ready and the meeting is in five minutes, so we better get going."

Ed nodded, taking the coin from the girl, all the while smiling like there was nothing that could mess up his joy. How wrong he was...

Being on guard duty sucked... Majorly…

It had started off okay. It was interesting to be in the halls, watching how daring students quietly scurried around the castle meeting friends and how they nearly peed themselves when they saw Ed standing there, thinking he was a teacher, but then calmed down after he assured them that he was simply a ghost.

However, once the hours started to go on, less and less students came out and more and more went back in. He was now staring at an oddly colored brick in the opposite wall as if it'd reveal the answer to the world if he glared at it enough. Sadly it did no such thing, but why kill any of hope of entertainment?

When all of a sudden there was a noise that Ed nearly missed. He immediately straightened out and knocked on the wall twice, as per the agreed signal, tellingeveryone in the room to shut their traps and escape. Ed nodded as he heard shufflingsounds that indicated that they had heard him and were evacuating the room. Quickly, might I add. Ed stared at the side of the hallway that the offending noise had come from and waited in anticipation. His rare patience payed off once he saw the blondebrat with friends closingin on where the entrance to the room would be, and in the process closing in on him. He narrowed his eyes as they edged closer.

"Get out of our way," the Blondie snarled, obviously trying to be scary or intimidating. Trying being the keyword here. Ed simply dropped the glare and crossed his arms, making no motion to move. One of the students apparently decided that shoving him would be the faster option and pushed his hand towards Ed's shoulder. Both of them, the boy and Ed, tensed up the second they touched.

There was a long pause as the others nervously twitched, wondering what they were doing. Why were they both so pale?? Why were their eyes so huge and glassy?? Why were they just standing there???? When all of a sudden, out of nowhere, there was a piercing scream as the boy fell to the floor.

The boy wasn't the one screaming, he was knocked out cold. The source was the ghost. The scream was loud and gave off the worst kind of chill that you couldn't ever seem to get rid of. Then, as quickly as it started, it died down and the golden boy flopped down on the ground with a loud and definite thump. There was a dead silence and then....

"THEY DIED!!!!!!!"

A good chunk of the kids ran off screaming bloody murder, Draco being one of them.

Ed stared at the floor. The pain... Where had it come from...? He weakly tried to get up; his shaky arms did nothing but let him flop back on the ground like a wet noodle. He couldn't scream anymore... His throat had given out... The pain.......................... Ed's head was reeling... Everything was getting spotted and dark...… Maybe if he closed his eyes...... He shut them weakly and then, right before he went along with the pain...

"-ing on?!?"

Ed could just barely make out the demanding voice of the pink toad... Great...frickin' lovely... And then....

The welcomed darkness took over.

* * *

_A/N~ Soo.... Whaddya think? Sorry it took so long to get out guys ^^' It's just what happens when you try to use a rere computer that likes to screw with my head... heh... but anyways, wow I think this is one of my first cliffhangers 0.0 hehe how we hate the dreaded cliffys! So Review~ Tell me what you like tell me what you hate! I wanna hear it all~! Oh quick fyi! This is one of the longest chapters so feel loved!! We're finally getting to some actual plot here! -Le gasp- Shocking I know. Can't wait to hear from you guys! Thanks to my awesome beta again!!_


	5. A Hateful Mechanic

**_~A.N. Hey guys!! I'm so so so so Sorry I haven't posted anything for so long!! I feel so horrible about it... Please don't hate me! If it helps at all (I know it doesn't...) This chapter is 3,545 words without my talking. Um... So, tell me what you like what you hate, if I missed any mistakes or any of that Jazz. I apologize again for the delay! But hey, I'm not dead right? So that's always a good thing ^^... Unless you're an assassin...~_**

**_Edit~! There's been a slight changes in the story, Nothing real major just a but more descriptive and pry a little bit easier to understand just what is going on; Thank my awesome Beta for dealing with all my weird crap~! I'll shut up now...._**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Fma, Harry Potter, Or BBI No matter how much I wish I did. (I just realized this is only the second time I've done this. oops.... ^^')_**

"Big Brother!! We missed you so much!! It's been so long! Are you okay?!? You haven't been causing trouble have you? Winry's going to have a whole cat when she sees that you've lost her auto mail again. ! ... Brother... I've missed you so much…"

Ed smiled at his now quiet younger brother, gazing at him. It had been awhile... It was so easy to remember the dozens of conversations they had that had sounded almost exactly like this almost every time they'd gotten reunited no matter how short the separation. It was kind of like an old pair of shoes, worn down and used but without a doubt the most comfortable. Ed simply continued to look at his brother, too surprised and happy to say anything.

Before he'd realized anything was happening, however, Al was dragging him down stairs that he recognized as Winry's with Al going on and on about some kind of party. Once they finally reached the bottom of the stairs Ed's eyes grew huge. Everyone from his journey was here, somehow managing to crowd into the small kitchen. Gaping, Ed took in the insane sight. Havoc was there grinning, standing alongside Breda who was talking to a person that he assumed was Hughes. Hughes' family was beside him and they were waving at Ed. And behind them stood the bastard, Riza, Winry, Granny, and... Mom? Ed took a step forward, about to question the odd appearance just as a thought hit him.

'Wait... Hughes is also...…' He put a hand to his pulsing head and just barely heard Al calling out his name.

"Ed? What's the matter? Ed...?!" The blonde collapsed to the ground but he wasn't greeted by the wooden floors. "Ed!!!! Brother!!!!!!" The voice was getting fainter and fainter until at last it was gone.

For a second there was silence, but then......

"Al!" Came a gasp, accompanied by a shuffling sound as Ed jerked his body up. There was a dry laugh that came from the boy. "Of course...It was only a dream…" A barely audible thump was heard as the blonde dropped to the bed. Ed closed his eyes with a sigh. A second of silence and then...

"Wait!! Thump?!" He threw his eyes open and stared in surprise at his hand. "No way…"

He wove his hand in front of his face curious as to why in the hell he was back in his body without him doing anything. What had made that happen? He couldn't remember attempting a transmutation or anything along those lines... Maybe it something had occurred because that boy and him had touched? But that didn't make any sense...

There was a short, wry chuckle that escaped the blonde as he wondered what the hell the gate took this time. Ed stared blankly at the ceiling for a second, not sure what to do. "Well... I'm obviously not in the hallway anymore…" He sat up again and hopped off the white bed he had been lying in. He thrust the white curtains aside and glared accusingly at the surrounding white beds and walls. "Tch. Don't tell me this is another hospital…"

"Of course it's not. It's an infirmary."

The intruder had surprised Ed so much he very nearly jumped out of his skin. However, he managed to appear like it hadn't affected him and turned to look at the owner of the voice. The owner was a rather stern looking woman with glasses.

"Fair enough…" Ed sighed, "Mind telling me how or why I am here exactly?"

The woman took a good long look at him before deeming him worthy of an answer. "We were hoping that you could give us a reason for both of those actually." She made a wry smile at him before continuing, "And you have Mister Potter to thank for you being here instead of Umbridge's office, just in case you were wondering."

Ed nodded, putting a mental note down to remind him to thank Harry later. "When you say we -"

Ed broke off only to have the woman finish for him, "The rest of the staff including Umbridge." She paused, taking a moment to look off to the side as if she were trying to decide something. "Before they come, however... I'd like to ask you a question…" Ed nodded, indicating that he was listening. "Have you been sent by someone?" There was a very slight twinge in her voice that he nearly missed. It sounded...hopeful...? Weird…

"I was sent by no one but Truth," Ed answered honestly, deciding that if the woman wanted to she could attempt to look farther than she had to in the answer. He hated to disappoint people but he wasn't one to give false hopes either. The woman stared at him with a sort of bizarre look before she seemed to snap out of it.

"...Very well... I will......be rejoining you shortly. Please do not attempt to escape while my back is turned. The consequences will be very severe if you do." Ed nodded again and for once in his life didn't rebel against an order. Something in the stranger reminded him strongly of a certain trigger happy friend and he wasn't up for pissing off anyone that looked or acted even remotely like her. She nodded smartly to him before walking towards the door.

Ed sat in complete silence as he listened to her shoes clicking against the floor. He heard the creaking of a door being opened and closed his eyes expecting to hear the door shut. After a second, however, he still didn't hear it. He slid his eyes open again only to realize that the woman had been looking at him again with that funny look.

"It seems you have some visitors. I'd highly appreciate it if you don't mention the fact that they are here to Professor Umbridge…" Ed allowed a small smile to cross his face and watched in amusement as three heads suddenly appeared right in front of him. "You have ten minutes until we come back Mr. Potter. Please do not get caught. We don't need more excuses to give her." And with that there was a small click showing the woman had left the room.

"Professor McGonagall is surprisingly nice when it's the toad's rules we're breaking…" muttered a grinning Ron.

Ed chuckled rather loudly at that. "Well of course. Who doesn't want to break her rules?"

His input seemed to break the spell that had held Hermione and Harry quiet for the moment, but now that he had spoken they were a flurry of action as they usually were.

"Ed! How have you been? It was so scary when we heard that you had collapsed like that! You practically gave us a heart attack!!" Hermione rushed out in one breath, looking like she was going to start crying right there.

Ed waved at her outburst, "Geez, no need to get so worried... It's just me... I can handle myself just fine…"

Harry grinned at the boy's obvious embarrassment. "Yeah, nice cover-up there. Why are you blushing like that then?" Ed's face almost immediately gained ten extra shades of red right there.

"S-Shut up Harry!! I have a cold is all…" Ed turned his head away but then sighed before turning to face him again. "But anyways, thanks for saving my butt. Your teacher told me."

Harry smiled happily at the blonde, "Hey, no problem. After all, we're friends, right? That's what friends do."

Ed smirked at him, a familiar glint in his eye. "Yeah, we're friends, but don't expect me to be in your debt long. I don't like being in others debt, drives me crazy."

Ron snickered quietly, getting three identical stares to the back of his head.

"What's so funny Ron?" asked Ed, a dangerous shine in his eye.

"Oh, uh...well, nothing really...…"

Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that so......?" he asked, sounding for a second almost exactly like Ed which caused Ron to bust out laughing again despite the immediate danger staring him in the face.

"I-It's that!!" Ron gasped, pointing at them all the while clutching on to his stomach, laughing still. "You two...act so alike!!"

There was silence as both boys turned to face each other with scrutinizing looks. "I just don't see it…" they both deadpanned at the same time. There was a slight giggle and, to their shock, Hermione was the culprit this time.

"It's true!!" She clasped her hand over her mouth, stifling more giggles.

Harry sighed, hanging his head to suffer in silence while Ed just rolled his eyes, already getting used to their odd behavior. There was a comfortable silence that settled over them for awhile then, right as Hermione was about to break the calming quiet with a question she had been dying to ask, the sound of approaching footsteps beat her to it. Hermione, quick thinking as always, shoved Ed onto the bed and stepped back to the trio as Harry flung the cloak over them just as a group entered with a loud slamming of the doors, causing Ed to wince from how the bang effected his growing headache.

"Ever heard of knocking...?" he mumbled quietly, only to be met with identical stares from the people who had so kindly murdered his poor head. Ed glanced up at the people, slightly curious as to whom, exactly, everyone was.

There were a few that he recognized in the group. Such as the woman who Harry referred to as Professor McGonagall, and then there was the pink toad woman... He mentally cursed at that one. 'Ah well... that's what I get for hoping, I guess…'

And then there were people that he didn't know at all. There was a tall, rather greasy looking man that looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but here at the moment. There was also someone standing off to the side that wasn't fully in his view; Ed assumed it was a woman due to the fact that he could see the hem of a dress on the aforementioned person. It was like that for a second: Ed looking up at the visitors (glaring at the toad) while they looked back in silence, save the woman tapping her foot continuously.

The toad-like woman broke the staring contest abruptly by coughing in her annoying way, and by the looks on the others' faces in the room, it wasn't the first time that it had happened. "Hem-Hem-Hem," went the toad.

Ed made a face as she kept going and going... He idly wondered if anyone else would mind if he shoved a sock into her mouth; he didn't think they would. Not much anyways. Finally the annoying sound stopped and the dreaded talking began.

"I'd be more than happy to give you a cough drop, Professor Umbridge…" The Transfiguration Professor offered in a shut-your-mouth-up-or-else-I'll-do-it-for-you kind of way that made Ed grin.

"I'm quite alright thank you... But let's not get off subject shall we?" That time the toad's voice dithered a bit from unsure to sickly sweet.

"God forbid the day," the greasiest of the group muttered, earning him a nasty look from the pink abomination.

"If you would, please, Snape? I don't have all day you know." The man yet again mumbled something under his breath before he started to rummage through his black robes that Ed had been told was somewhat of a uniform around here. The pink toad took it upon herself to explain what exactly was going on to the poor confused blonde. "This will only take a minute. Professor Snape here is going to give you a quick potion that will give us what we want and let you rest much quicker."

There were more grumblings heard, but this time they came from the woman in the back of the room. It sounded somewhat like "-can't believe.........…doing this...…children...…He never would've.........Ill, no less!!"

"Do you have something you wish to say?" The question was asked in a sickly sweet way that made you want to slap the owner of the voice.

"No, no, of course not! It's only that you should leave the child be! He's ill for god's sake!" Madam Pomfrey half growled at the toad woman.

Ed twitched momentarily at the word child but otherwise made no movement. However, his action got him the least wanted attention.

"Oh, don't worry dearie. This will be over before you know it. Just do what we ask of you and there will be no issues." The poorly veiled threat only managed to tick Ed off farther and get a, "Is that really necessary!?" from McGonagall.

The man finally managed to find whatever it was that he was searching for, and was currently holding it up to the light as if he was examining it. "Hmm, this will take a good bit of the remaining potion ...Are you quite sure you want to use this on such a…" There was a noticeable pause as he took a moment to sneer at Ed, "short cause?"

Ed hopped up right there and was glaring at the man. "You trying to say something here?!?"

There were several gasps and a slight hiss of "Ed!" that made Ed instantly drop his raised fist and plop back down on the bed.

"Seems you have a nasty little temper…" Came the next sneer, however, it came from the toad this time. He stayed quiet, deciding to shoot his glares off at the floor instead.

"Well, we might as well get a move on seeing as how we have enough of th-" The greasy man was cut off by a loud 'BANG' that resounded throughout the building.

"What the!?" The Toad turned towards the door that was currently very close to shaking off its hinges.

"I suppose we'll just have to come back later then…" And that was the greasy man's input.

"I will attend to the students." That time Ed didn't even have to look up to know it was McGonagall.

And with that all three rushed out, leaving the last woman to stalk up to him and place her hands on the curtains surrounding his bed. "Good timing. I was getting tired of the dawdling anyway." The blonde looked up at the woman in surprise as he noticed that she looked rather proud of herself. She closed the curtains with a smirk before walking away to her office, her shoes clacking the entire way. There was low chuckling and before he knew it there were three heads smiling down at him.

"Well it seems everyone knew we were here except Snape and Umbridge." Ed raised an eyebrow but asked nothing of it as Ron chuckled after his comment.

"Yep, a rather close call though, I'd say. Umbridge very nearly walked right into us." That time it was Hermione's turn to giggle.

"You guys are giving him a headache, I can tell already." Ed grinned weakly to point out that Harry got it right. Harry continued on with Ed's signal, "Alright guys, let's leave ghosty here to rest a bit. We'll be back later, Ed!" The blonde closed his eyes and waved blindly before letting a deep sigh out and taking a well earned sleep.

The sandy blonde ran up to the door and was knocking on it like crazy. If he banged on it any harder, the door was most likely to fall down. Roy walked slowly behind Al, almost worried about what they would find. Alphonse had called Winry a bit before they had boarded the train telling her to watch over Ed but gave her no reason or any other information whatsoever.

Roy gave a wry smirk and reminded himself to never, ever, screw with Full Metal's health around his little brother. Not that he would ever do that anyway...... The State Alchemist was snapped out of his suicidal musings when Full Metal's mechanic opened the door only to yell at Al for worrying her so much. Roy watched the two bicker back and forth until the conversation suddenly quieted to hushed whispers. Curiosity getting the better of him, Roy walked over to the two to hear just what they were saying.

"-and he disappeared?!!"

That was Al shouting. Roy raised an eyebrow and stepped closer. "I missed the conversation, could you explain…?" he asked politely pointing the question at Winry, yes that was her name... The girl stiffened considerably, not that Roy blamed her. They hadn't exactly been the best of friends since Full Metal went all veggie on them... She gave Roy a long glare that in all honesty would have killed if looks were capable of that.

"He's gone," she said, simply not bothering to explain who since it was already pretty obvious.

"Well Miss Rockbell... May we go upstairs and look in his room?" Roy asked yet again, attempting to be polite. Winry stood there for a minute seeming to think over it, after a good few minutes she nodded and backed into the house letting Al and him in.

As they walked up the stairs Roy could've sworn he heard something like, "Wouldn't have let you in if Al wasn't here.................." Roy rubbed his head, following after the charging blonde that sounded like he was attempting to stomp down the house. There was a slight creaking noise as the bedroom door opened. Roy followed after the boy frowning.

"...Ed......." came the moan that was bound to come.

Roy shuffled over to Al and stood there awkwardly, not sure as to what he thought he could do to comfort the blonde. Just as Roy opened his mouth to speak, Al stood and walked over to the empty bed, a determined look in place.

"I... was expecting this, actually. I just didn't want to say anything quite yet..." He paused, looking up to the older man. "I knew it was going to happen soon. Just not…" He made an attempted smile, "I've been researching this ever since Ed's condition went downhill…" Al opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. "I...…I'm going to try something. You don't have to help me. You can go back to Central if you want. I won't hold it against you, Sir…"

Roy shook his head. "I can't say I approve of this in the slightest. And I'm willing to bet your brother would like this even less, however…" The man paused, letting the words sink in. "I know you'll do it anyway, regardless of me helping or not." He directed a lazy glare at the younger of the two. "So... Because of my damned morals I'm going to help you. But!!" Roy held a finger up, pointing it at the blonde. "If this fails... I want you to call it quits. Got it? No more 'research' or 'ideas'."

Al nodded furtively. "Yes sir!! Thank you very much!!"

Roy sighed, shaking his head. "I mean it, Al…"

The younger Elric grinned happily, "Of course!" He stood up quickly, walking over to the desk that had more often than not occupied him. He crouched over it, digging through the contents. Roy watched in disbelieving amusement as random papers were thrown every which way possible. It was quiet for a while as Al shuffled and dug before he finally let out a loud, "Found it!!"

Roy snapped his eyes up so that he was looking at him straight in the face once he turned in his general direction.

Al beamed up at Roy, a piece of paper in hand. "This array should do it. It's the one that was used in Germany!"

Roy raised an eyebrow, getting more and more skeptical of the idea. "You still have that…?"

Al nodded quickly before copying the paper's contents onto the floor with a speed that Roy didn't know he possessed. Before so much as a minute passed, Al was looking up at Roy asking him if he was ready. The man crouched down beside the boy with horrid thoughts and questions running through his mind. As hands met the floor, a voice pierced the eerie air.

"I... just want to see Brother again... Don't think badly of me, please." With that, the golden tinted alchemic reaction turned red, making the small room take on a bloody hue.


End file.
